Saving the Future
by Lily.SeverusPotter
Summary: Harry Potter finds seven books about his life and reads them with the professors of Hogwarts and his friends in the Room of Requirement.
1. Chapter 1

**Saving the Future**

Chapter One

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were upstairs in Number 12, Grimmauld Place, discussing Harry's trial that he had at the Ministry for performing underage magic.

"I narrowly escaped being expelled! Fudge thinks I'm an attention-seeking liar according to Rita Skeeter's articles in the Daily Prophet; therefore he won't believe that Voldemort is back; it was only of Dumbledore's friend Amelia Bones, that I got off," Harry said.

"Surely Fudge must believe Dumbledore though"-

Harry cut Hermione off midsentence. "Fudge reckons both Dumbledore and I are crazy and he's trying to get Dumbledore removed from the Wizengamot and Hogwarts."

"That's awful!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ron shook his head, saying, "Bloody hell!"

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and seven books fell on Harry's head.

"OUCH!" Harry yelled.

"Are you all right?", said Hermione, concerned.

"F-Fine," Harry said. "What are all these books though?"

"Dunno. But they've got your name on 'em, though. See, look-

_Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone_, _Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_."

"Why would anyone write books about _me_? said Harry, nonplussed.

"I wonder if we're supposed to read them…" wondered Hermione.

The moment she said those words, another flash of light appeared, and a letter came floating down on top of the books.

Harry quickly scanned the letter which read the following:

_Dear Harry,_

_You're probably wondering why you received these books, right?_

_Well, the truth of the matter is..in the next few years, many people you love dearly will die pointless deaths, and I want to prevent them. Gather the following people to read the books in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts:_

_Harry Potter _

_Hermione Granger_

_Ron Weasley_

_Neville Longbottom_

_Luna Lovegood_

_Ginny Weasley_

_Fred Weasley_

_George Weasley_

_Percy Weasley_

_Charlie Weasley _

_Bill Weasley_

_Arthur and Molly Weasley_

_Draco Malfoy_

_Cho Chang_

_Nymphadora Tonks_

_Sirius Black_

_Remus Lupin_

_Mad-Eye Moody_

_Professor Albus Dumbledore_

_Professor Minerva McGonagall_

_Professor Filius Flitwick_

_Professor Charity Burbage_

_Professor Severus Snape_

_Madame Pomfrey_

_Time will not pass during the reading of the books, and you can get food from the kitchens; the Hogwarts elves will be more than happy to get you whatever you wish, although Hermione might not be happy about that! Hermione is badgering me as I write this, so I guess I can give you a few tidbits. You get married to Ginny Weasley, and have two boys and one girl, all named after your parents and two of your professors, but I won't say who yet. Ron, you get married to Hermione, and have a boy and a girl. Your daughter, Rose, in quotes from you:_

"_Thank God Rose inherited her mother's brains." She's just like Hermione! _

_I guess that's all, so if you have any questions(besides the reading) just write on the back of this parchment, and I'll answer back._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry James Potter_

Harry quickly stood up, saying, "We have to tell everyone right now."

They all headed downstairs to find everyone already sitting down at the table; Mrs. Weasley was cooking dinner.

"Professor Dumbledore?" said Harry.

Dumbledore said, "Yes, Harry?"

To his annoyance, Harry noticed that Dumbledore was looking over his head and did not meet his eyes.

He shook the thought aside and continued, with more bravado, "I just received a set of books about me and a letter. It says that many people died in the near future, and, in order to prevent these deaths, we have to gather certain people and read them in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. Here's the letter, if you want to read it for yourself."

Albus quickly scanned the letter, looked up, and said,

"I will contact the people that are members of the Order of the Phoenix, if you will let your friends know."

Harry agreed, then asked what time to meet at Hogwarts.

Hermione suggested, "How about noon tomorrow, Professor? That way we have time to gather everyone and get the food from the Hogwarts kitchens."

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled from behind his half-moon glasses, and said, "Excellent idea, Miss Granger."

Mrs. Weasley said, "Why don't you all sit down and have dinner?

The Golden Trio, as they were fondly called, complied and told everyone about the books.

Hermione suddenly started giggling uncontrollably.

"What's so funny, Hermione? Ron asked.

Hermione managed, in between laughs, to say, There's a sticker on one of the books that says," SOON TO BE MADE INTO A MOTION PICTURE."

Harry turned bright red as all the teens at the table started laughing and smiling at him.

Fred and George shouted simultaneously, "CONGRATULATIONS MATE!"

Remus shook his head fondly. "Merlin, you guys are worse than Sirius on his best day."

Sirius said, "_Hey!"_

Harry laughed and then went upstairs.


	2. Chapter 2: The Boy Who Lived

**Saving the Future**

**Chapter 2**

The next day at noon found a group of people gathered outside the Room of Requirement. Harry paced back and forth three times, thinking , "I need a place where we can read books comfortably." On the third time, a door materialized out of this air on the wall in front of them, and they all went inside. It was a very cozy room, much like the Gryffindor common room.

There were sofas and chairs all around the room, portraits on the walls, and a fire blazing in the fireplace.

Once everyone was settled down, Harry asked,"Who wants to read first?" Professor Dumbledore said, "I will."

_Chapter One: The Boy Who Lived,_ Dumbledore read out loud.

Harry scowled at the unpleasant reminder of the fame he so desperately hated. Snape looked astonished. Did the boy not like his fame? He thought.

"_Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."_

"Charming people!" Fred and George snorted simultaneously. Professor McGonagall looked disapprovingly at them and they withered under her glare.

_They were the last sort of people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. Mr. Vernon Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills._

Arthur spoke up and asked, "What's a drill?"

Professor Burbage, the Muggle Studies professor, answered, "It is an electrical device that can create holes in walls."

Arthur nodded, satisfied.

_He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Petunia Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors._

"You haven't changed at all Tuney", Snape thought to himself.

_The Dursleys had a small son named Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere._

Harry snorted loudly, causing a lot of questioning looks to come this way. "He is now the size and weight of a young killer whale." Everyone looked disgusted and Madame Pomfrey exclaimed, "How can that be healthy?" Harry just shrugged.

_The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that someone would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters._

"There is nothing wrong with the Potters you-"

Remus cut Sirius off. "Language, Sirius!"

Sirius looked abashed. "Sorry," he muttered.

_Mrs. Lily Potter was Mrs. Petunia Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister,_

Sirius and Remus looked mutinously angry, and Severus thought sadly, "You held a grudge against Lily for this long, Petunia?"

_Because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband James_

Sirius growled.

_Were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be._

"Is that even a word?" Hermione wondered.

_The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that._

" A child like what?" Sirius and Remus asked, dangerously calm.

Harry mumbled something incoherently, at least he thought it was incoherent.

Remus' face grew livid, as he repeated with narrowed eyes,

"_A magical freak?"_

Harry looked very uncomfortable.

Professor Snape looked at him intently and asked, "Did the Dursleys mistreat you, Potter?"

Harry shook his head vehemently and said, "No!"

Professor Snape looked unconvinced.

_When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the dull, gray Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work_

Fred and George gave gasps of shock and Harry looked worried for their sanity.

_And Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair._

Mrs. Weasley, Professor McGonagall, Madame Pomfrey, and Hermione tutted, "What a horrible child!"

_None of them noticed a large, tawny owl flutter past the window. At half past eight, Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek_

"What is he, a bird?" snorted Ginny.

"Fred?" said George. "Yes, oh gorgeous twin of mine?" said Fred. "I think- -we may have- finally corrupted Ginny- -with our endearing, lovable prankster ways!" they finished together.

Mrs. Weasley looked furious and shouted, BOYS!"

Fred and George mumbled, "Sorry, Mum." Mrs. Weasley nodded. When she sat back down, they winked inconspicuously at Harry, who snickered quietly.

_And tried to kiss Dudley but missed, because Dudley was now havng a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls._

"_Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive._

_It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar- a cat reading a map._

"Minnie!" Sirius exclaimed happily.

"I've told you not to call me that, Black!" said Professor McGonagall.

Sirius just smirked cheekily at her, who gave it up as a lost cause.

_For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen—then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of?_

_It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive—no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. _

A few people smirked, Professor McGonagall and Sirius included.

_Mr. Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get out that day._

"One-tracked mind, that one," said Professor McGonagall.

"You have no idea," Harry replied, before he realized who he was talking to and then blushed bright red.

Ron sniggered and Hermione had a teasing smile on her face.

_But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about._

Severus, Sirius and Remus paled. "It must be the day Lily and James died." They whispered and everyone in the room looked solemn. Harry looked at Professor Snape curiously, wondering why his Potions professor would be upset about his parents' death when he hated his father.

_Mr. Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes—the getups you saw on young people these days! He supposed it was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes_

Tonks huffed, "You're the weird ones, not us!"

Sirius exclaimed," Nymphie! Finally you comment on the books!"

Sirius found himself on the business end of her wand as she pointed it at him and said sternly, "DON'T CALL ME NYMPHADORA!"

"Funny, I forgot what I was talking about…"muttered Sirius.

Harry coughed a false cough that sounded oddly like "_Pansy!"_

_Standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him!_

_But then it struck Mr. Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt—these people must be collecting for something…yes, that was probably it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr. Dursley arrived in the Grunnings parking lot, his mind back on drills. Mr. Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed openmouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at nighttime. Mr. Dursley, however had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people._

Tonks winked at Harry and said, "Sounds familiar," while smirking at Mad-Eye Moody.

Said person growled, Well if_ some_ people would listen to what I tell them the _first _time…"

Tonks just grinned cheekily.

_He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery. He'd forgotten about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's._

"What's wrong with cloaks? Neville asked, going furiously red as everyone looked at him.

"Neville, Muggles don't wear cloaks, they went out of fashion a hundred years ago," said Hermione kindly.

_He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying._

"_The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard, yes, their son, Harry"_

Sympathetic looks were shot at Harry, who suddenly found the blue carpet floor very interesting.

_Mr. Dursley stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver down and stroked his moustache, thinking…no, he was being stupid._

"Now he realizes it…"muttered Harry.

_Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure his nephew was even called Harry._

"He doesn't know your own name?" Hermione asked, incredulous.

"I still don't think he does," Harry confessed.

_He'd never seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold._

_There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley; she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her—if he'd had a sister like that…_

"A sister like what!" came the outraged exclamation from Professor Snape, fuming. Everyone looked astonished and flabbergasted at him and Professor Dumbledore's eyes began twinkling madly.

_He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door. "Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem to be all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passengers stare, 'Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Muggles like yourself should be celebrating this happy, happy day!'_

"Was that you, Professor Flitwick?"asked Harry.

Said professor blushed deeply.

Professor McGongall said, "Oh, Filius!" and shook her head fondly.

_Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he wasn't imagining things. which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination. As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw—and it didn't improve his mood- was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes._

"Told you so, Minnie!" laughed Sirius.

Professor McGonagall just rolled her eyes at him.

"_Shoo!" said Mr. Dursley loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. 'Was this normal cat behavior?' Mr. Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was determined not to mention anything to his wife. Mrs. Dursley had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learned a new word("Won't!")._

At this, Mrs. Weasley sniffed angrily.

_Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:_

"_And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Althought owls normally hunt at night and are hardly seen in dayligjt, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The newscaster allowed himself a grin._

"That was my dad, Ted Tonks. He has a job as a part-time news reporter." said Tonks.

"_Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"_

"_Well, Ted, said the weatherman,"I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent,Yorkshire, and Dundee have been phoning to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early—it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."_

_Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters…_

_Mrs. Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her._

"Wrong move there," came from Remus. Severus was horrified to find he had the same thought.

_He cleared his throat nervously. "Er, Petunia, dear—you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"_

_As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn'thave a sister. "No," she said sharply. "Why?""Funny stuff on the news,"_

_Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... Shooting stars... And there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today... ""So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley. "Well, I just thought... Maybe... It was something to do with... You know... Her crowd._

"_Her crowd?" came the outrageous uproar from everyone in the room except Harry and Professor Snape._

_"Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'dheard the name "Potter. " He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son -4he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?""I suppose so, " said Mrs. Dursley stiffly. "What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?""Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me._

"I don't think it's nasty,' Ginny scowled.

Harry looked confused, having forgotten he was marrying her in the future. "Um, thanks, Ginny?"

Fred and George looked gleeful and Fred said to George, "Five Galleons Harry falls in love with Ginny and marries her."

George said, "Five Galleons he doesn't."

Cho looked furious.

_"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I _quite agree. "He didn't say another word on the subject as they_ went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat wasstill there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something. Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did... If it got out that they were related to a pair of - well, he didn't think he could bear it__._

"He doesn't seem like a very nice person," came the dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood. Everyone started; they had forgotted she was there for the reading.

_The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over inhis mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he andPetunia thought about them and their kind... He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up inanything that might be going on - he yawned and turned over - it couldn't affect them... How very wrong he was._

"Unfortunately for me." Harry scowled and glared at the book while Remus and Sirius shared worried glances.

Light flashed throughout the room and a letter appeared. It read :

Dear Harry,

I know that you're not going to be happy about this, but a few more people need to read the books with you. Their names are:

Vernon Dursley

Petunia Dursley

Dudley Dursley

And Draco Malfoy

Yes, yes, I know. Please try not to kill anyone and be civil towards them!

-H.J.P.-

Professor Snape stood up and said, "I will get Mr. Malfoy," and left before anyone could say a word.

Professore Dumbledore then left to bring the Dursleys.

An hour and a half later, they both returned with Draco and the Dursleys in tow.

"Now that we are all here, we will continue the reading,"said Dumbledore.

_Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed on the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all. A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed. Nothing like this man had ever been seen on Privet Drive. He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. This man's name was Albus Dumbledore._

"WOO!" exclaimed Fred and George Weasley.

Professor Dumbledore smiled.

_Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realize that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realize he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known. "He found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air, and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer, until the only lights5left on the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back__inside his cloak and set off down the street toward number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it. "Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall. "He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled. "How did you know it was me?" she asked. "My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly. ""You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day, " said Professor McGonagall. "All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here. "Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily. "Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right, " she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no - even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news. " She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls... Shooting stars... Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense. ""You can't blame them, " said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years. ""I know that, " said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumors. "She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on. "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found__ out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?""It certainly seems so, " said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a lemon drop?""A what?" "A lemon drop. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of"6"No, thank you, " said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for lemon drops. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone - ""My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort. " Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two lemon drops, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name. "I know you haven't, said Professor McGonagall, sounding half exasperated, half admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know-oh, all right, Voldemort, was frightened of. ""You__flatter me, " said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have. ""Only because you're too - well - noble to use them. " "It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."_

"Too much information!" said Ron, Fred, George, and Harry.

_"Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing next to therumors that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? Aboutwhat finally stopped him?"It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the realreason she had been waiting on a cold, hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixedDumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true.__Dumbledore, however, was choosing another lemon drop and did not answer. "What they're saying, " she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumor is that Lily and James Potter are - are - that they're - dead. "Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped. "Lily and James... I can't believe it... I didn't want to believe it... Oh, Albus... "Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know... I know... " he said heavily. Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry. But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone. Dumbledore nodded glumly. "It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done... All the people he's killed... He couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding... Of all the things to stop him... But how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"7"We can only guess, " said Dumbledore. "We may never know. "Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?""Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?""I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now. ""You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!""It's the best place for him, " said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter. ""A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future - there will be books written about Harry - every child in our world will know his name!""Exactly, " said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed, and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it. "Hagrid's bringing him. ""You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"I would trust Hagrid with my life, " said Dumbledore. "I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place, " said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?"A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled__ to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorcycle fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them. 8If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of trash can lids, and hisfeet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets. "Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorcycle?""Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sit, " said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorcycle as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it to me. I've got him, sir. ""No problems, were there?""No, sir - house was almost destroyed, but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol. "Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning._

"Awwww," all the girls in the room cooed.

Harry went red again, but this time it included his ears.

_"Is that where -?" whispered Professor McGonagall. "Yes, " said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever. ""Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?""Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in handy. I have one myself above my left knee that is a perfect map of the London Underground. Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with. "Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned toward the Dursleys' house. "Could I - could I say good-bye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid. He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog._

"I take offense to that," said Sirius in a mock wounded voice.

"You would," said Remus, referring to Sirius' animagus form.

_"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall, "you'll wake the Muggles!""S-s-sorry, " sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large, spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles - ""Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found, " Professor McGonagallwhispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall andwalked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked itinside Harry's blankets, and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stoodand looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and thetwinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out. "Well, " said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and jointhe celebrations. ""Yeah, " said Hagrid in a very muffled voice, "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir. "Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself onto the motorcycle and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night. "I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall, " said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply. Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once, and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four. "Good luck, Harry, " he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone. A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley... He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"_

"That's the end of the chapter, " said Professor Dumbledore quietly.

The room was silent. Then-

"YOU LEFT MY GODSON ON A BLOODY DOORSTEP WHEN IT WAS SUPPOSED TO RAIN. ALBUS PERCIVAL WULRIC BRIAN DUMBLEDORE! HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN SICK!" came from Sirius.

"I assure you there were protective charms on the blankets, said Dumbledore.

"Hmmph." said Sirius unconvincingly.

Professor Dumbledore said, "We will convene here tomorrow morning at nine o'clock," as the reading had taken the rest of the day.


	3. Chapter 3: The Vanishing Glass

**Chapter 3 **

The next morning, the group of teachers, Order members and students settled down in their chairs to read the next chapter. Professor Dumbledore said,

"I think you should read this next chapter, Harry. It will tell us about your life with the Dursleys from your perspective." Harry's face suddenly drained of all color as he turned pale. Professor Snape thought, _"Why so terrified, Potter? Ah, surely it is a plea for attention. No doubt he will become even more egotistical and arrogant, much like his bloody father._

Harry read, "Chapter 2: The Vanishing Glass."

_Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all._

"Really? The Burrow is always changing!" said Charlie and Bill Weasley, speaking up for the first time.

Harry grinned.

_Thse sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursley's front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful new report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets-_

Petunia looked affronted.

The room exploded in laughter, even Professor Snape smirked.

_but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby , and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother._

_The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too._

Most of the people in the room had worried, concerned expressions on their faces with the exception of Professor Snape, who sneered and thought, "Too high and mighty to have your picture taken, Potter?" The thought "He is Lily's son too," crossed his mind, but he shoved it away.

_Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day._

"_Up! Get up! Now!"_

Professor Snape, Remus, and Hermione winced.

"I feel for you, Harry," said Hermione.

"This idiot here," Remus said, pointing at Sirius _("HEY!"_),

thought it would be funny to wake me up by screeching at me when he forgot with my werewolf hearing, I hear things 3 times as loud as normal people.

Sirius smiled sheepishly.

Harry just snorted and rolled his eyes.

_Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again._

"_Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove._

Remus frowned. "I used to visit Lily at her family's house sometimes. You shouldn't be able to hear the stove from any of the bedrooms on the second floor."

Harry looked nervous and there was an awkward silence when he didn't say anything.

_He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it._

"My motorbike!" exclaimed Sirius.

"We know!" said Remus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

Sirius turned red.

_He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before._

"Nope, Harrykins, it was a memory." Said Fred and George, grinning.

_His aunt was back outside the door._

"_Are you up yet?" she demanded._

"_Nearly," said Harry._

"A little tired, are we, Prongslet?" teased Sirius.

"Oh, shut up," Harry muttered while blushing and glaring good-naturedly at Sirius. The Weasley twins were trying very hard not to laugh and succeeded.

"_Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday._

"SHE MADE YOU COOK?" shouted Madam Pomfrey, Mrs. Weasley, Professor McGonagall, and Hermione.

"That's appalling! My parents wouldn't let me touch the stove until I was 13!" said Hermione, indignant.

Harry blushed again.

_Harry groaned._

"_What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door._

"He didn't say anything!" exclaimed Ginny.

"_Nothing, nothing…"_

Fred and George snickered.

_Dudley's birthday-how could he have forgotten? _

_Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them,_

Ron shuddered. "Still scared of spiders, Ron?" asked Harry.

"You would be too, if your twin brothers turned your teddy bear into a real, live spider as their first accidental magic! said Ron. "Care to tell why I didn't hear about this, boys?" said Arthur mildly. The twins stuttered something like, "Didn'twanttotellyoucauseMumalreadyspankedourbums

goodwithherbroomstick."

Arthur raised an eyebrow at Molly and whispered to her,

"There was no need for that. They couldn't control it as it was accidental magic."

Molly flushed a dark red.

_put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept._

Silence filled the room as Harry stared at the floor, his face burning.

"Why didn't you tell us the Dursleys treated you this bad, mate? Said Ron.

"Didn't think it was important," mumbled Harry.

From the other side of the room, came,

"YOU LET MY GODSON SLEEP IN A BLOODY CUPBOARD! WHAT IN MERLIN IS WRONG WITH YOU, ALBUS DUMBLEDORE?" shouted Sirius.

Professor McGonagall said, "I told you those were the worst sort of muggles to place him with!"

Professor Dumbledore had a sad look in his eyes as he looked at the Dursleys and said, "Why did you not care for Harry like a son as I requested of you in the letter?

Uncle Vernon's moustache bristled on his now purple face and said, We fed him, gave him clothes on his ungrateful back-"

"Only after Dudley finished with them," added Harry coldly.

Sirius and Remus looked livid.

Professor Snape, however, was shocked. He thought, "How could I have missed the signs of him being abused?

I can't believe I ever thought he was spoiled and arrogant; he was treated the way I was, although he acts more like Lily than James. I have to apologize to him after these books are done."

_When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise- unless it involved punching somebody._

"That better not be who we think it is, Harry, " growled Sirius and Remus.

Harry didn't say anything, he knew what was coming up.

_Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast._

Sirius and Remus looked slightly relieved at that, and let it go.

_Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age._

"James was a midget at eleven too," laughed Sirius.

Harry grinned again.

_He looked even smaller and skinner than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was._

Suddenly a big plate of tuna sandwiches appeared in front of Harry with some vials of Nutritive Potion.

"Eat, Harry, you are far too skinny for a fifteen year old." Said Mrs. Weasley and Madam Pomfrey.

"You do realize this was in the past, don't you?" said Harry. Mrs. Weasley and Madam Pomfrey just looked at him. Resigning himself to his fate, Harry sighed and ate three of the sandwiches and downed two of the potion vials, then continued.

_Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose._

Sirius, Remus, and Severus growled.

_The only thing Harry liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. _"You liked your scar?" asked Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, and Neville, incredulous.

"I had no reason to hate it then. It was the only reminder of my parents that I had."said Harry.

_He had had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it._

"_In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."_

"Lily and James did not die in a car crash!" said Remus, Sirius, and Severus, except Severus said it more quietly.

"I know that _now_!" exclaimed Harry.

Sirius and Remus flushed.

"If you can't ask questions, how are you supposed to _learn_?" asked Hermione.

Harry shrugged.

_Don't ask questions-that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon. _

"_Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting._

"That's not very nice!" Hermione huffed.

_About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way-all over the place._

"It's the curse of the Potter hair!" grinned Sirius.

_Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat, head._

Professor Snape was disgusted by the description.

_Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley loosed like a baby angel-Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig. _

Cue laughter throughout with the room. Then came Fred and George's shout of "WHERE IN MERLIN DID ALL THIS HUMOUR GO, HARRY?"

_Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell._

"_Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father._

"_That's two less than last year."_

"36? Even I don't get that many," said Draco.

"_Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."_

"What is he, five?"snorted Hermione viciously.

"_All right, thirty-seven then,"said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over._

_Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"_

Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, "That's terrible parenting! You're not supposed to obey their every whim!"

_Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty…thirty.._

"Great Merlin, he can't even count?" said Remus and Sirius incredulously.

"_Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia._

"_Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then." Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair. At that moment the telephone and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried. "Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction._

_Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on_ _Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day to adventure parks, hamburger restauraunts, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned._

Dumbledore started to chuckle at this. Only Arabella and her beloved cats.

"_Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy wjem he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again._

Ron and Hermione giggled, while Harry shot a mock glare playfully at them and rolled his eyes.

"_We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested._

"Isn't she the one you blew up a couple of summers ago?" said Ron.

Snape, who had been taking a long drink of water, suddenly choked and barely covered up his laugh with a cough, although Remus looked suspiciously at him.

"_Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."_

"The feeling's mutual," Harry said.

Snape looked at him curiously and wondered what Marge Dursley had said or done to Harry to make him hate her.

_The Durselys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there-or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug._

"_What about what's-her-name, your friend-Yvonne?"_

"_On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia._

"_You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer)._

"Nice try, mate" said Ron.

Harry grinned sheepishly.

_Aunt Petunia ;ppked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon._

"She always looks like that though," Harry felt the need to explain. Snape snorted and Hermione giggled.

"_And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled._

"_I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening. _

"Do it! Do it!" said Fred and George, egging book-Harry on.

"Not the house, just your aunt," grinned Ron.

"When was this?" said everyone in the room except Ron and Hermione.

"Third year, after Sirius escaped from Azkaban." Said Harry.

"_I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly"…and leave him in the car…"_

"_That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone…"_

Sirius and Remus growled murderously.

_Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact he wasn't really crying-it had been years since he'd really cried-but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted._

"Spoiled brat," said viciously Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Madam Pomfrey, Professor McGonagall, and to everyone's surprise, Professor Snape, although a bit more quietly.

"_Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him._

"_I…don't…want…him…t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" _

_He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms. Just then, the doorbell rang-and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them._

Sirius and Remus hissed at the reminder of their oncetime friend and traitor Peter Pettigrew also known as Wormtail.

Professor Snape thought, "People like me," and stared at the ground with his fists clenched as memory after memory replayed in his mind of James Potter and his gang of Sirius, Remus, and Peter Pettigrew humiliating him, beating him up, and picking on him.

Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, and Madam Pomfrey looked sadly at him; Remus and Sirius looked deeply ashamed of themselves, and Harry looked confused and curious.

_Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once. Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley,on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside. "I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's. "I'm warning you now, boy- any funny business, anything at all- and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."_

'_I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"_

_But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did._

_The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen._

_Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly_

_at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it_

_had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly._

"You're a Metamorphagus, Harry," said Tonks.

"You mean I can change my appearance at will?" said Harry without thinking.

He suddenly was the recipient of many odd looks from everyone in the room. "How do you know what a Metamorphagus is, Harry? Even I didn't know what one was until just now." Said Hermione.

Harry blushed and said, "The Dursleys mostly ignored me if I stayed in my room, so I read my books a lot."

Draco and Snape stared and Snape thought, "Another misconception that I was wrong about. Lily used to love to read too…"

_Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls)_

"Ewww…" came from Hermione and Ginny.

_The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until_

_finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to_

_his great relief, Harry wasn't punished._

_On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on_

_the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was_

_sitting on the chimney. The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have_

_caught him in mid- jump._

"Really, Harry? Mid-jump?" laughed Hermione and Ron.

"I was eleven!" exclaimed Harry.

"You apparated?" asked a very astonished Remus.

"Actually, I think I flew…" Harry mused.

"Just like Lily all those years ago…" Severus thought.

_But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room. While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to_

_complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects._

"Awww, I think he loves you Harry," said Sirius in a mock baby voice. Harry threw a pillow at him in response.

_This morning, it was motorcycles._

_"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them._

_I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."_

_Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"_

_Dudley and Piers sniggered._

_I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."_

_But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a_

_dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas._

Fred and George got identical smirks on their faces and Mrs. Weasley shouted, "I FORBID YOU TO WATCH THESE CARTOONS!"

_It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The_

_Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the_

_entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they_

_watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley,_

_except that it wasn't blond._

Remus pretended to look stern while saying, "Don't insult the gorilla!" However it was ruined by his lips twitching. Sitting next to him, Sirius had no such qualms and burst into laughter and couldn't stop for five minutes.

_Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo_

_restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbockers glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first._

_Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last. After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and_

_stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car_

_and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep._

_Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils._

_"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge._

_"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on._

_"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away._

_Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying_

_to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house._

"You have depressing thoughts, Harry. I expect your mind is infested with Nargles." Said Luna dreamily.

Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not; after all, he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

_The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised_

_its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's._

_It winked._

_Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was_

_watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too._

_The snake jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised_

_its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:_

_"I get that all the time._

_"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the_

_snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."21_

_The snake nodded vigorously._

_"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked._

_The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry_

_peered at it._

_Boa Constrictor, Brazil._

_"Was it nice there?"_

_The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on:_

_This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to_

_Brazil?"_

The only person who was surprised that Harry was a parselmouth was Sirius.

Sirius stared at Harry. "You can talk to snakes?" he asked, incredulous.

Harry flinched, than wrapped his arms around himself. His voice shaking, he said, "Y-y-yes. V-Voldemort transferred some of his powers to me the night he tried to k-kill me. Y-You're not going to hold that against me, a-are you?" said Harry tremulously. Remus glared at Sirius pointedly as he gathered in Harry and embraced him in a hug. Sirius looked ashamed and said "Of course not, Harry! I'm sorry if I overreacted a bit, but I always hated Slytherins with a passion because it reminded me of everything my family was and everything I was not. They believed in the whole pureblood thing; They worshiped Voldemort with devotion and tried to get me to take the mark, but I refused and was disowned. I ran away at the age of sixteen and stayed at your father's house during the next two summers and holidays. My brother, Regulus, took the mark in my stead and look where it got him," Sirius said bitterly. "Regulus couldn't stomach the gruesome things Voldemort would do to Muggles and other wizards, so he tried to get out of being a Death Eater. Voldemort found out and killed him personally." There was an awkward silence as Sirius stared at the floor. Remus, who had already heard this story a few years ago when the Marauders were in their seventh year of school at Hogwarts, looked at him sadly.

Severus, however, was experiencing a paradigm shift.

He thought, "Is this why he was the main Marauder that picked on me most of the time? Maybe this is why he tried to set Lupin on me because his brother had just been killed and he wanted revenge."

Severus spoke quietly so only Sirius could hear him and said,"Could I talk to you privately for a moment, Black?"

Sirius looked at Snape quizzically, and when it seemed apparent that Snape would offer up no more information, he said, "If you must. We'll go to the Shrieking Shack where no one else can hear us." Severus nodded in appreciation and thought wryly, "Ironic that we're going to the Shrieking Shack!"

Sirius looked at Dumbledore and said, I'll be right back. Snape wants to talk to me about something privately so we'll be going to the Shrieking Shack."

Dumbledore looked at both of them seriously and said to Severus, "Make sure no one sees Sirius. The Ministry still thinks he is a convicted murderer and will not hesitate to arrest him if he is seen."

Harry offered,"What about my invisibility cloak, Sirius? I mean, since Lucius Malfoy is pretending to be in Minister Fudge's good books, he'll have told him all about you being a dog animagus."

Sirius cursed and said, "I forgot about that."

Sirius draped the Invisibilty Cloak over himself and he and Severus left and went to the Whomping Willow. Severus levitated a twig so that it pressed the knot on the tree and made its branches stop whirling about.

They made their way upstairs and, after casting privacy charms and wards to keep anyone from seeing or hearing them, sat down on the couch in the back of the room.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Snape?"

Severus looked at him seriously and said, "I want to apologize for treating you the way I did and want you to know how sorry I am that your home life was not ideal. If I had known, I assure you I would have made the effort to be friends." Sirius looked embarrassed and muttered,"No, I'm the one to blame. I was blinded by the Slytherin-Gryffindor prejudice that James pressed onto me and didn't see the difference between my family and the Slytherins that were on the side of the light. Can we still be friends now?"

For the first time in years, Severus' face was beaming as he smiled and said, "Friends. Call me Severus."

The pair headed stealthily back to the Room of requirement in time to hear Hermione say, "I wonder what they're talking about that could be taking so lon-"

Hermione broke off as Professor Snape and Sirius walked in. Everyone stared at the two in amazement; Sirius looked as though the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulders. Severus, however, had a beaming smile on his face. Mostly all the people in the room were in shock since they had never seen the potions professor smile once; and here he was, beaming widely.

Dumbledore's eyes looked suspiciously moist; clearly Sirius and Severus had somehow, finally overcome their differences. Harry looked on in astonishment and asked, What happened, Sirius?" Sirius grinned and said, "We apologized for treating each other the way we did for all these years, became friends, and I called him Severus for the first time." A loud thump sounded behind them. They turned around and started laughing uncontrollably; Ron had fainted. Severus got control of himself enough to say, "Well, that's new," amused. Harry shook his head fondly and laughed; he didn't know his potions professor could be so funny. As if reading his thoughts, Severus looked at everyone in the room and said, "It's high time I told you this, especially now that Sirius and I are on good terms (Ron spluttered). The reason that I had to treat the students and other teachers the way I did(his eyes slid towards Remus) is because I had to put on a façade, a mask. If The Dark Lord had found out from Death Eaters' children like Theodore Nott that I was favorable towards children of the light side as well as the dark side, he would have found out that I am a spy. However, that does not give me an excuse for certain people." Severus looked at Harry. "I apologize for the way I have treated you. When I used to look at you, I would only see James and remember how he used to humiliate and pick on me. But, as I have come to realize, that was a unfair assumption and you are much more like Lily." Harry said happily, "I've been waiting five years to hear you say that." Severus asked, shocked, "You were so sure I would apologize for that?" Harry simply replied, "Mum came to me in a dream last night. She said that you had admitted to yourself that you had misconceptions about me and were going to apologize to me after we finished reading all the books, but I guess it happened earlier that she thought!" Then Harry did something that shocked everyone in the room except Dumbledore, Hermione, Professor McGonagall, Mad-Eye Moody, and Madame Pomfrey. He walked over and hugged Severus. Severus' arms came down and wrapped themselves around Harry in a tight embrace. Harry mumbled in Severus' chest, "Can we continue reading the books now? I'm hungry!"

For the second time that morning, Severus laughed long and loud. "Yes, of course," he said. Harry sat back down on the sofa sitting next to Severus and continued.

_As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of_

_them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"_

_Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could._

_"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were_

_leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror._

_Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and_

_started running for the exits. As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come... Thanksss, amigo."_

_The keeper of the reptile house was in shock._

_"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"_

_The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were_

_all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you,_

_Harry?" Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before_

_starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy._

"NO MEALS?" said Remus, Severus, Mrs. Weasley, and Madam Pomfrey dangerously.

Harry just looked at the floor.

_Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food._

_He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when_

_his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding_

_flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and_

_uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house. When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown_

_relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped)_

_that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry_

_furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in_

_green had waved merrily at him once on a bus._

"Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked incredulously.

Professor McGonagall blushed.

_A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. _"Sounds like Kingsley," Tonks said surprised.

_The weirdest thing about all these_

_people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look._

_At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang._

"That's the end of the chapter," Harry said.

"I can go get some food from the kitchens," he offered.

"That sounds good," said Hermione.

"I'll come back in a little while then!" smiled Harry happily.


End file.
